The marriage of Sylvie and Gowry McCulloch was hardly a match made in heaven and has gone through difficult times. Settled now in Dublin, they have a daughter, Maeve, whom they both love dearly. Sylvie presides over the respectable Shamrock Hotel while Gowry is a driver for Flanagan's bus company. When Francis Hagarty explodes into their lives, however, everything changes for the worse. Fran is a journalist and gunrunner and hides a shipment of smuggled arms in the Shamrock. Gowry discovers them and, sensing danger, is furious.